


End of the Beginning: The Aftermath

by TheEyeOfRa



Category: RWBY
Genre: Other, Volume 3 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-21 23:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16585985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEyeOfRa/pseuds/TheEyeOfRa
Summary: What happened in the direct aftermath of Cinder and Pyrrha's duel during the Battle of Beacon? How did Qrow retrieve Ruby? How did Weiss escape? This short story may provide some answers, plus a few others as well.





	End of the Beginning: The Aftermath

“We’ve got to hurry!” Ruby’s voice called out from behind.

Weiss turned around. The Tower was just within walking distance, but she knew the amount of time left to help Pyrrha was dwindling faster than ever. She had to make a split-second decision, and she had to do it now.

She took a quick glance at the Tower. Myrtenaster was still in her hand; she pulled it back so the hilt was behind her head, looked up, pointed the blade just above the Tower’s base, and pointed her right hand right next to the tip of the blade. She activated her semblance; a large white glyph—two circles and a snowflake in the center—illuminated in front of the blade, and she fired another one at the Tower. A trail of smaller glyphs flashed up along the Tower’s outer wall in single file up to the very top.

Weiss turned to Ruby and nodded. “You can do this.”

Ruby ran up to the Tower, leapt forward, and planted herself against the outer wall. Weiss watched as Ruby followed the glyph path, dashing up the Tower higher and higher at bullet speed while a sprinkle of red rose petals rained down from her cape until she could no longer be seen.

Weiss looked back and spotted a Boarbatusk standing in the distance. She knew she could not run as fast as Ruby, so she figured she had to take it out first before she could catch up.

The Boarbatusk charged head-on first. Weiss took one step back, readied her sword, and then sprinted at the creature. At close enough of a distance, she leapt up and did a front flip in the air, extending her left arm and shooting Dust at it with Myrtenaster. Once she was completely upside-down midair, she looked down at the Boarbatusk. She activated her semblance once again, this time forming another giant glyph above her feet, and aimed Myrtenaster at the back of the Boarbatusk’s neck. Using the glyph as a platform, she launched herself downward and sank Myrtenaster’s blade into the back of the neck. The creature let out a booming roar as Weiss planted her feet on top of its head. Pulling Myrtenaster out of the Boarbatusk, she sprang back and did a backflip, performing a perfect three-point landing on the pavement. As she got up, she saw the Boarbatusk’s body lying on its side.

Good, she thought. Killing Boarbatusks had gotten a lot easier for her now, but fighting one was no less terrifying for her. She took a deep breath and exhaled a sigh of relief.

Weiss turned to the Tower once again. The glyph path was still lit up. She cracked a smile, feeling glad she still had time to catch up to Ruby and Pyrrha. Or she would have, had a gigantic Nevermore not suddenly landed in front of her. Taking out a Boarbatusk had become nothing for her, but a Nevermore? It was hell fighting one with the entirety of Team RWBY back at the Emerald Forest in the first week of school. Here, she was all alone, and she knew one Huntress in training going up against a 20-foot raven was instantly dead meat. The sight of the giant bird made her tremble in fear; she was sweating like crazy, her legs were shaking, and she was losing her grip on Myrtenaster. There was no way out of this. Weiss was trapped, nowhere to run—she thought she was about to die.

Just then, a white light flashed from the Tower. In a split second, everything in Weiss’s vision suddenly turned white, an explosive thunderous noise pierced her eardrums, and she felt the ground shake beneath her feet. The light was so bright it made Weiss close her eyes shut, though the image of the Nevermore looming over her was burned in her retinas for a few seconds. The earthquake was so strong that she felt herself tumbling from side to side, dropping Myrtenaster, then falling to her knees and catching herself with her hands on the pavement. She used her Aura to protect both of her hands from getting any rug burns, but it still hurt rubbing them on the pavement. The booming sound, combined with the screeching squeal of the Nevermore from up close and the even louder cry of the Dragon from afar caused a sharp pain in her ears, so much that it made her cover her ears and curl up in a fetal position almost immediately. In that moment, Weiss believed that at any second now the Tower could fall on her and she, Ruby, and Pyrrha might all die in the collapse; or, at the very least, the Nevermore would scoop her up and eat her in one fell swoop while she was still on her knees.

After about a minute, the earthquake calmed to a stop. Weiss let go of her ears and planted her hands flat on the ground. Her ears were deafened by the explosion, her hearing replaced by a painfully sharp ringing noise. She opened her eyes. Her vision was a blur, but at least she was able to somewhat make out the shapes of the concrete blocks in the pavement. Weiss felt a bit dazed, like she was about to pass out fully on the ground, but she pushed herself up and sat upright. She fixated her eyes at the asphalt and watched as her vision continued to sharpen with every passing second while the pain and ringing in her ears slowly dissipated. Not before long, she could finally see the pavement clearly again, and her hearing was starting to recover—she could hear the faint sounds of sirens and people’s screams back at the entrance to Beacon.

Weiss grabbed Myrtenaster and jumped to her feet. She brandished her sword and looked up at the Nevermore, ready for a fight. To her surprise, however, the Nevermore had turned gray and stopped in place, standing still in the same attack position it had taken before the flash. Its stance disturbed her. She took a deep breath, slowly tiptoed up to the Nevermore, and rested her hand on its foot. It was petrified—cold, hard, and smooth, like a stone statue. She knew then the Nevermore could not attack her anymore. At least she was safe now.

Weiss walked underneath the Nevermore statue and looked up. She was struck in awe when she gazed upon what was left of the Tower. The spire and the Green Beacon were gone. Ozpin’s office, right below the Beacon, had been reduced to ruins in the duel. The Dragon was petrified as well, its wings wrapped around the Tower, its tail curbed up, and its head jerked upward with the jaws still opened from its deafening scream. The glyph path she had set up for Ruby had disappeared.

“ _RUBY? PYRRHA?_ ” Weiss called out.

No answer. Not that either of them would be able to hear her from that high up, anyway. What was the point of calling them out? Weiss was beginning to feel nervous. She hoped Ruby and Pyrrha were all right, but she had no idea. She had to find out for herself.

Weiss crouched, looked up at the Tower, and waved Myrtenaster, pointing her rapier upward. A white snowflake-shaped glyph lit up from beneath her feet. She sprang up and launched herself toward the Tower. Getting up there was business as usual for her; whenever she started to fall, she just lit up another glyph in the air and sprang back up again. In no time, she had made it to the top.

She could tell from far below that Ozpin’s office had been torched to rubble, but up close she finally saw the extent of the damage. Nearly all the glass windows had toppled over—only two of them remained standing. To the rear, part of the face of the tower clock still stood, while several columns had been halved. Gigantic metal cogs and gears scattered all over, as did huge slabs of rubble and broken glass.

She looked to her right and then jumped at the sight of the Dragon’s screaming face. It took her a second to remember it was frozen now. It posed no threat at this moment, but it was still quite frightening for her to look at.

She turned to her left. All she saw was more rubble, more broken glass, and in front of the rubble, a red-cloaked girl lying on her side with a red scythe-gun just barely protruding from under the cloak.

“Ruby!”

Weiss sheathed Myrtenaster and ran up to her friend. She knelt beside her, took Crescent Rose and put it aside, and turned Ruby over onto her back. Ruby was sweating and convulsing frantically. Her eyes were glowing white with tears flowing down her face, and she was panting heavily with every breath.

Ruby chanted one word over and over again: “ _Pyrrha... Pyrrha... Pyrrha... Pyrrha..._ ”

“Ruby, it’s okay,” said Weiss. “I’m here now. I’m going to get you out of here, got that?”

Ruby seemed unaware that Weiss was even there. She continued saying the same word, “ _Pyrrha... Pyrrha..._ ”

Weiss gasped. She realized Ruby had become catatonic. Could she see with those glowing eyes? Did she even know Weiss was there?

Just then, Weiss heard a sound, like that of a person tumbling, coming from her right. She looked to her right, but saw nothing. _What was that?_ Could it possibly be Pyrrha? Perhaps she was lying injured behind the rubble? Maybe she was actually conscious and needed help? Or maybe was that Cinder, trying to escape from the wreckage? Weiss had no idea—she had to find out.

She gently lay Ruby on the floor and put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Ruby,” she said. “I’ll get you out of here soon.”

Ruby didn’t answer. She was still convulsing, repeating Pyrrha’s name again and again.

Weiss stood up and drew Myrtenaster. She turned right and began taking slow steps toward the clock’s face. She heard another noise, eleven o’clock. This one sounded like a mix of a whoosh and a woman screaming. On instinct, she looked at the left end of the face, from where the floor cut off the bottom half. Nothing. Whoever was there was probably gone by now. Weiss figured there was no use in finding out who it was at this point.

Furthermore, Ruby was still in need of help.

_Ruby! Of course!_

Weiss turned around and sprinted back toward Ruby. Her eyes were so fixated on her friend that she did not look down to check and see if she was about to step into what felt like a pile of sand. To be exact, she stepped her right foot on what felt like a metal ring in that pile—it jolted upward and hit her right leg. The metal was hot, inflicting a sharp and painful sting on her shin. Weiss stopped in her tracks, looked down, and saw a small mound of black ashes beneath her feet. Partially buried in the ash pile, but flung up and resting against her leg, was a full head-sized bronze crown.

_No. It can’t be..._

She knelt in the ash pile. She scooped a handful of ashes with her hand and let the ashes flow between her fingers, watching as they slowly fell back into the mound. She picked Pyrrha’s crown from under her shoe and held it in both of her hands. The crown burned her hands like hot metal, stained with black ash and scratched all over.

At this point, Weiss finally let the truth sink in. She bowed her head, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let out a sigh. She did not try to choke back her tears; she just let it all out, crying quietly by herself.

She must have cried for at least a minute until she startled by the sound of two footsteps clamping on the roof affront her. Weiss opened her eyes and looked up. Qrow was standing on the edge beside Ruby, calling her name. He knelt beside his niece and held her up in his arms.

“It’s all right,” he said. “I gotcha, kiddo. I gotcha.”

Ruby started to calm down. She stopped convulsing, and her arms fell to her chest. Her head fell back on Qrow’s arm, taking in one deep breath before closing her eyes.

He looked toward Weiss. “What happened, Weiss?” he asked. “What happened to her?”

Weiss did not say anything. She did not know how to explain it all to him. She just continued to kneel and bowed her head in silence. After a few seconds, she looked up at Qrow again. He had slung Ruby over one shoulder, and Crescent Rose over the other. The look in his eyes spoke one of understanding and sorrow; it was as if he had figured out what had happened here. It relieved Weiss to know that now Qrow knew, too.

Qrow nodded with a sigh. “Weiss, we have to go.”

Weiss did not stand up. She looked back down at Pyrrha’s crown. It still pained her to her heart to be holding all that was left of Pyrrha in her hands.

“The longer you hesitate, princess, the less of a chance we have at saving Ruby. Now get on your feet, and let’s get out of here.”

With Pyrrha’s crown in her right hand, Weiss stood up and walked toward Qrow and Ruby. She stopped at the edge of the Tower, pointed Myrtenaster at the edge, and pulled it back with the hilt behind her head. She pointed her right hand in next to the blade’s tip and activated her semblance, lighting up a large glyph and letting a line of smaller glyphs trail down the tower’s side. She put Myrtenaster back in her sheath and turned to Qrow.

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s go.”

 

The trip back to Beacon’s entrance took longer than expected. As soon as they arrived, Qrow was quick to get Ruby to the nearest airbus ambulance.

“Somebody help!” he called out to a team of paramedics standing outside the ambulance. “My niece—she needs emergency medical assistance _right now!_ ”

Weiss watched from a distance as Qrow lay Ruby in front of the paramedics. She saw the paramedics rush to Ruby’s aid, though she was unable to tell exactly what was going on as many survivors were rushing up and crowding around the scene, blocking it off from her view.

Weiss needed to find somewhere to sit down. With Pyrrha’s crown still in her hands, she began walking through the evacuation zone, but the place was now overcrowded compared to when she and Ruby left for the Tower. There were still so many civilians clustered together even more tightly than when they sat in their seats at Amity Colosseum, she could not find any place to sit. She knew the evacuation was going to take hours, as there were clearly not enough airbuses to transport the civilians back to Vale. Never mind the fact that the medics already had so many patients to deal with. Civilians, Atlas soldiers, and students alike were all getting treated for various injuries. Some of these injuries were minor, such as broken bones; others were critical, including large gashes, bullet or stab wounds, lost limbs, and severe burns.

Weiss happened upon two paramedics attempting to defibrillate a girl who she instantly recognized as Octavia Ember from Team NDGO. The rest of NDGO surrounded the medical team, watching as the medics did their best to help their comrade. One medic checked Octavia’s pulse, made eye contact with his partner, and shook his head. The other medic nodded and took the AED off Octavia’s chest. The two headed inside the ambulance and came out with a stretcher they used to carry Octavia’s body away. The other members of NDGO cuddled together, weeping for their fallen friend.

The sight of Octavia’s death and all the other casualties had little effect on Weiss. She had lived through such a catastrophic battle, seen so much devastation in one night—it was more than too much for her to handle.

She turned around and spotted Yang sitting cross-legged next to another ambulance. Yang was actually awake! She had probably woken up while Weiss and Ruby were gone, but she did not look like she wanted to talk to anyone. She was just staring out into the sky with a worried look on her face. Still, Weiss was sure Yang would be more than happy to see a familiar face again.

Weiss called out Yang’s name and started to run towards her. Yang looked to her right and made direct eye contact with Weiss. She smiled, and her face lit up bright red in an instant. She shifted her legs, grabbed a hold of one of the ambulance’s wings with her remaining arm, and pushed herself up. By the time Yang was standing, Weiss threw both of her arms in the air, one still holding the crown, and the two squeezed each other in a warm, airtight embrace.

“Blake told me you and Ruby went to the Tower,” said Yang, loosening Weiss of her hug but keeping her hand on her shoulder. “Please tell me my sister’s okay!”

Weiss did not know for how long Yang had been awake. It was probably best for Yang not to know about Ruby’s condition at the moment. For all she knew, Yang could still have been traumatized and emotionally unstable from losing her arm. It was a miracle she was actually up and moving about at all.

Trying to evade the question, Weiss looked at the bloody casted stump that used to be Yang’s right arm.

“You should probably sit down now,” she said. “You’re still healing.”

“I know,” said Yang, “but not until you tell me about my sister.”

Weiss nodded. “She’s fine, she’s safe.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Yang breathed a sigh of relief. “So, can I see her now?”

“Not yet.” Weiss swallowed, taking one second to come up with an excuse. “She needs to be alone right now.”

Yang squinted and raised an eyebrow. “Why? What happened?”

“Look, Yang,” said Weiss. “What happened up there, at the Tower...” Weiss was getting uncomfortable. She did not want to talk about what happened to Ruby and Pyrrha, but she could not just evade the question—not with Pyrrha’s crown in her hand. She put her free hand on Yang’s shoulder. “Why don’t we sit down first and then we can talk, okay?”

Yang nodded.

Weiss and Yang sat next to the ambulance, in a free spot next to a medical team treating another patient. Weiss gave Yang a brief summary of her story first, telling her of Pyrrha’s death. Of course, she had to leave out many of the key details, mainly that Ruby was left in a coma. All of Yang’s questions about Ruby made Weiss feel nauseous, but she was able to lie her way out and assure her that her sister was fine.

Yang’s jaw dropped when Weiss showed her the crown. With all the lights at the evacuation zone illuminating the entire area, it was now easier to see how severe the damage the crown had taken. In addition to the heavy number of scratches, most of the bronze had either turned to brown or blackened entirely. At least the metal had cooled off by now. When Weiss let Yang hold the crown, she looked at her hands and saw that the palms were still red from holding a hot piece of metal all the way back.

Yang handed the crown back to Weiss and then told her own story. She had woken up beside the ambulance with Blake at her side. She initially panicked and activated her semblance upon discovering that her arm had been cut off, but Blake, Ren, and Nora helped her calm down. She told Weiss she was still struggling to cope with her own trauma.

“Weiss, you have no idea how much it means to me that Ruby’s okay,” she told her. “Thanks for keeping her safe.”

“Uh-huh, right,” Weiss said, shaking her head nervously. Looks like she was right, after all. Yang was too emotionally fragile at the moment to know Ruby’s true condition. She had to change the subject. “So where’s Blake, anyway?”

Yang looked off in the distance. “She ran.”

Weiss’ eyes widened. “She _what?_ ”

“No buts, no warning, not even saying goodbye! Blake just got up and _ran!_ ” There was a hint of bitter resentment in Yang’s voice. “And don’t ask me where she went. Sun’s following her. Hopefully he’ll find her and bring her back here.”

“I hope he finds her, too.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Zwei running toward Yang from the right. The cute little mutt’s presence alone was enough to brighten Weiss’s mood. She looked to Yang and saw her sitting up and leaning forward at the first sight of him. Zwei was Yang’s dog, so Weiss could only imagine how much he must have meant to Yang right about now.

“Aw, will you look at that!” Yang exclaimed. She reached her arm out to pet Zwei, but the top of his head brushed the palm of her hand as he passed her. “Huh. That’s odd.”

Weiss turned to her left and saw Zwei disappear into the legs of a large crowd in the distance beside an ambulance—the same crowd that had gathered around Ruby when she first arrived.

“Hmm, I wonder what Zwei is doing over there.” Using the ambulance’s wing as a crutch once again, Yang pushed herself back up to her feet. She took a step but tripped forward.

Weiss knew right away this was not good. She did not want to find out what Yang would do if she saw who was in that crowd—she decided she had to stop her. She got on her feet and caught Yang before she could fall.

“Yang, I don’t think you can walk that far,” she told her, holding on to her shoulders. “I think you should sit down.”

“But Weiss, whatever’s in that crowd, it’s gotta be something big,” said Yang, loosening herself from Weiss’s embrace. “Even Zwei’s interested, so why can’t I go over there? What’s the matter?”

“Look, Yang.” Weiss grabbed a hold of Yang’s arm with both of her hands. “I don’t think you’re ready yet.”

“Ready?” Yang tried tugging her arm out of Weiss’s grasp. “Ready for what? Like, is there something there I shouldn’t be seeing? Are you hiding something from me?”

“No, it’s not that.” Weiss felt her heart beating faster. “It’s just...I don’t think you could handle it.”

“What do you mean, I can’t handle it? I can clearly take care of—” Yang stopped midsentence and looked at the crowd. Weiss could feel Yang’s arm starting to warm up in her tight grip.

“Weiss?”

“Yes, Yang?”

Yang turned back to Weiss. “Where’s Ruby?”

“I already told you,” Weiss answered. “She’s—”

“For real this time!” Yang’s eyes turned red. Weiss felt the heat from Yang’s arm starting to burn her hands. “Tell me right now, Weiss. _Where is she?_ ”

Weiss did not answer. It was not like she could anything to stop Yang anymore, anyway—it was clear she knew the answer by now. Yang jerked her arm out of Weiss and ran into the crowd, only to stumble forward. She caught herself by latching onto other spectators with her arm. She kept nudging and shoving each and every person, edging her way in until she was buried within the crowd. Weiss followed her and stopped at the back of the crowd. It was no use trying to get in from here, and she was too short to see anything going on inside.

Not before long, though, she heard a mild explosion and saw some small flames rise from up front. There were several screams and wails, people asking what was going on. Weiss heard a woman speak over a megaphone, telling everyone in the crowd to remain calm and clear immediately.

Many people in the crowd started to disperse, and now Weiss could see what was going on. Yang was on her knees, with two paramedics holding her back from under her armpits. She was struggling to break free, flailing her arm, trying to reach in Ruby’s direction. Golden flames floated around her head and her arm, though obviously she was too weak to deal any lethal damage to the medics.

“ _THAT’S MY SISTER!_ ” she screamed. “ _LET ME THROUGH! PLEASE! SHE’S MY SISTER! LET ME SEE MY SISTER!!!_ ”

Just then, Qrow rushed in from the side. Weiss could not tell what they were saying, but she saw Qrow kneel next to Yang and appear to comfort her. The two of them hugged.

By this point the crowd had cleared away, and now Weiss could finally see what was happening on the other side. The medics had hooked Ruby up to a life support system and laid her on a stretcher. Zwei had been sitting next to Ruby the whole time, and as the medics picked Ruby up and carried her onto the ambulance, he followed them inside. Qrow and Yang followed Zwei into the ambulance before its metal backdoor closed. The ambulance took off and set its course for Vale.

Weiss turned around and looked back at all the civilians who were still clumped together in one massive cluster—some sitting in place, others walking around. After a few seconds, she spotted Jaune in the crowd. He was pacing around, briefly talking to one person before moving on to someone else. He looked like he was asking each of them a question but kept getting no for an answer every single time. He would respond to their answers by either looking down, shaking his head, or slapping his palm on his forehead. At one point he even stomped his foot on the ground, as if in anger.

Weiss knew right away what—no, _who_ —his question was about. She looked down at her hands, still holding Pyrrha’s crown.

She looked straight ahead and started to walk toward him, but paused midway and took a moment to think this through. Should she really tell Jaune about Pyrrha? Was he ready to know the truth now? Or should she just try to hide it from him, like she tried with Yang? What would she tell him? After all the times he had approached her but she rejected him, was she even the right person to approach him now?

Jaune answered all those questions for her. He looked in her direction and called out her name. Weiss stayed frozen in place as Jaune dug his way through the crowd until he made it out, ran up to Weiss, and pulled her in for a hug.

“Weiss, I’m so glad you’re okay!” he said.

Weiss lifted her free arm and curved it around Jaune’s back, accepting his embrace. For the first time, she was actually grateful Jaune was this close. Normally she would have been creeped out and shooed him away, but here she felt safe with someone she knew. That was all that mattered now—the two of them were safe.

Jaune let go of Weiss. She held Pyrrha’s crown down low just behind her combat skirt, hoping he would not notice it.

“Weiss, please tell me you got Pyrrha out of there,” said Jaune. “Is she alright? Is she safe?”

Weiss did not know how to answer his question. She could not just say no, but she did not want to openly tell him Pyrrha was gone. She just moved her hands to her sides.

“Please, Weiss! Is Pyrrha okay?” Jaune grabbed both of Weiss’s hands. He did not seem to notice she was holding Pyrrha’s crown.

Weiss looked down. Jaune was holding both of her hands at first, but he quickly shifted his so he was holding the crown. Weiss looked back up at Jaune. He was staring down at the crown, his face wide-eyed with shock.

“Jaune...” she began.

Jaune looked up at Weiss. His eyes were watering up. He looked like he already knew the answer but did not want to say it.

“Jaune, I’m...” Weiss struggled to finish. “I’m... I’m sorry.”

Jaune hugged Weiss again, this time even tighter. He buried his face in her right shoulder and wailed loudly—she could feel his tears soaking into her clothing.

Weiss, on the other hand, was not crying; she was too shocked and traumatized by all that had transpired to react in any way at all anymore. She simply looked up at the night sky. The smoke from the battle had polluted the sky and blocked all but the brightest stars, but most of the Moon still illuminated through the smoking clouds. It was not much, but the sight was enough to comfort her at this moment.


End file.
